Metal shop class goes next level with NASA

Metal shop class was already fun for many students at Petaluma High School, as they pursue professional certifications while learning new skills. But according to senior Langley Durham, things went next level after NASA got involved.

She said the class first learned last August that they’d been accepted into a NASA program called HUNCH – and she remembers the glee people felt at hearing the news.

“The room lit up. It was electric,” Durham said.

HUNCH – a creative acronym for “High school students United with NASA to Create Hardware” – taps into the resource of high school youth around the country, connecting them with NASA engineers and astronauts who require very specific hardware for their space missions.

Currently partnered with high schools across 46 states, HUNCH has commissioned – and students have built – more than 3,000 items taken to the International Space Station, from lockers to handrails. The program also has expanded into other disciplines, such as culinary studies and biomedical science.

“I heard about (the program) through the Ukiah metal shop teacher and thought, naturally, that we had to do it,” said metal and auto shop teacher Keith Benson, who applied to the HUNCH program in 2021. “It was just so cool.”

This year, students in Benson’s 5th period Metal II – the more advanced metal shop class – went over the list of available HUNCH projects and picked the hardest one: designing and building 5.43-inch blue handrails that allow astronauts to position and restrain themselves in zero gravity.

The class was sent preliminary handrail drawings and the materials for construction from the program’s directors, but were on their own in designing, programming and creating the hardware. Benson said the hardest part is the programming.

“It takes about three to four minutes to make each part in the machine. But to get to that three to four minutes, it takes five to six months,” he said.

To tackle the job, lead coders in the class – Durham among them – had to be intentional with every attempt, because they were only given a certain amount of material to work with by their partners at NASA.

During the lengthy process, the class was aided by Dr. Florence Gold from NASA, who mentors students in the program in various parts of the country. She, along with a few experienced volunteers, helped the class complete a finished prototype in March.

Gold said she believes the projects are a “win” for schools, teachers, students, communities and space exploration in general.

“HUNCH provides students with learning opportunities that not only teach students technical skills, but also soft skills like teamwork,” she said.

With the handrail prototypes completed, Benson recently shipped six replicas that are out for inspection. Once approved, it’s hoped that every student in the advanced class will be able to make one of the parts and write their name on it to be shipped to space.

But with weeks left in the school year, and many students graduating, it’s not certain they’ll get that far.

“At the end of the day, just being a part of an opportunity like this and knowing that something we touched is going to space is incredible,” said senior Metal II student Max Bloom. “I know I am excited regardless of how long it takes.”

The first few weeks of the year are always about safety procedures, added Bloom, who is currently working on his second Mill Certification using the lathe machine.

“But once those (safety procedures) are done,” he said, “you can really do anything you want.”

Certifications are no small feat, taking weeks or months to complete – and potentially lots of expensive material wasted if a student makes a mistake. Durham has been working for two months on her third Mill Certification, which will earn her a National Industry Certificate and three credits at Santa Rosa Junior College.

Excitement for the program is not limited to the metal shop classroom.

“The opportunity to partner with such a widely known entity as well as the idea of having something our students help build go into space is amazing,” said Petaluma High School Principal Giovanni Napoli. “The real-world application of meeting deadlines, using specific tools and measurements, really emphasizes the expectations that Mr. Benson has created in the course.”

As for Benson, he continues to set his sights high – as high as the International Space Station.

“We have the tools, we have the capacity, and we have willing students,” he said, “so who knows how far we will go?”

Darah Alpert is a junior at Petaluma High School.